A company's talent management system (TMS) is an electronic platform that the company uses to recruit, develop, and evaluate employees. In one aspect, the TMS maintains job descriptions for positions within the company. Job descriptions can include parameters such as the job title, the situation within the corporate hierarchy, a general description of the job, and a list of tasks that a person holding the job would be expected to perform. Job descriptions can be largely standardized, and companies are motivated to adopt standard or common ways of describing positions so that the TMS can inteface with external occupational data stores. In a particular example, the United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics provides the O*Net database of occupational information to companies and job-seekers alike. Using O*Net data structures, a TMS can access thousands of job profiles that have already been created; the company can expand its pool of available talent to include job seekers that describe themselves according to O*Net parameters, either directly or through a talent placement company or similar service.
Global companies increasingly view English language skill as a core competency for their employees. However, most recruiters, functional managers, and HR team members do not have the expertise or tools needed to objectively evaluate their employees' English skills. Companies can benefit from a better understanding of the specific English skills required to perform a particular job and the current skill level of those who seek to do that job. It would be advantageous for a TMS to provide a consistent and precise method for understanding and assessing English language skills, both for evaluating particular employees and candidates, and for more particularly specifying job requirements in a job description.